The Metropolitan Police have come under fire for their actions against anti-monarchist activists. Credit: Labor for a Republic/PA Wire
The MP scandal erupted after the Home Office quietly lowered the threshold for taking action against protesters who are causing «serious disruption» despite opposition from the House of Lords.
The proposed change was initially rejected by peers when it was presented as full-fledged basic legislation, which is the usual approach to passing major changes to the law.
However, it emerged Thursday that the same policy was then carried through by-laws, which are a form of legal change with much less parliamentary oversight.
This is the first time such a move has been taken. adopted, according to the Secondary Committee for the Study of Laws, by a group of peers that oversees the use of the mechanism.
Critics argue that this approach undermines due process in Parliament, because if the House of Lords explicitly rejected legal changes, it means that she made her will clear.
Colleagues, however, have the ability to object to the by-laws, which means they would have the opportunity to object.
This development is particularly noteworthy given that it comes just days after the Metropolitan Police were criticized for arresting protesters during the coronation of King Charles.
A group of Republican activists were arrested ahead of the coronation after they were found to be wearing luggage straps, sparking debate about the threshold for new police powers to deal with protesters.
Lord McFall of Alluith, who in his capacity as Speaker of the Lords supervises the work of the second chamber of parliament, posted a link to the report on Twitter and seems to have raised the alarm.
Secondary legislation doesn't often make headlines, but it matters. @UKHouseofLords scrutinizes each snippet to flag issues. Here sharp-sighted peers highlight the use of rules to take action previously voted down by the lords. https://t.co/pnU9xZLnqd
— The Lord Speaker (@LordSpeaker) May 11, 2023
Sir Chris Bryant, Chairman of the House of Commons Standards Committee for the Labor Party, said: “The government is introducing measures through secondary legislation that was rejected at the time the primary legislation was passed. This turns the parliamentary procedure into a farce.”
The legal change was intended to help police counter disruptive protests such as those led by environmental groups Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.
The new regulation lowered the threshold for «serious» violation and made other changes, such as regarding the cumulative impact of repeated protests.
This change was proposed in an amendment to the Public Order Bill, which is now law, but was rejected by the Lords.
Arrests the «infamous episode»
Earlier this month, the Met expressed «regret» that six anti-monarchist demonstrators from the Republic campaign group were arrested ahead of the king's coronation. be used as a “lock device.”
The statement said: “The investigation team has fully examined the seized items and studied all the circumstances of the arrest.”
“ The detainees stated that these items will be used to fixing their posters, and the investigation was unable to prove the intention to use them to record and disrupt the event.
“Tonight, all six were released on bail. and no further action will be taken. We regret that these six detainees were unable to join the larger group of protesters in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere along the march's route.»
Graham Smith, Republic's chief executive, demanded a «full investigation» into who authorized the arrests, which prevented the group from expressing their dissent during the «shameful episode».
The Interior Ministry has been contacted for comment.
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